Roles: Research / Writing / Conceptualisation / Photography / Art Direction / Layout Design /
Book Design
Book Design
Based on the theme of Fragility, we had to design a creative outcome that would bring out our stance or our sentiments on this topic. The concept of fragility was entirely dependent on our perception of it — we could be looking at fragility of objects, fragility in human nature or even fragility in political structures and systems.
I looked at it in terms of human nature and emotions. I began to think about how fragility is often misconstrued as a weakness and people fear being fragile. However, as part of my research, I was reading a few articles on vulnerability and fragility and began to realise that it is actually a strength. Being able to be open and embracing one's vulnerabilities shows real strength and humanises us as individuals. I wanted to bring out this idea through my project.
In order to do so, I realised that the best way would be to bare my own vulnerable moments for the world to see. To embrace the moments when I felt most fragile and to let people see that it is what made me stronger and makes me who I am. If I was trying to talk about how vulnerability is a strength, then I figured it was only appropriate to do it by accepting my vulnerabilities as well.
I picked a time in my life when I was most fragile, and created a photo-series on the basis of it. I started out by tying a thread across the two pillars in my backyard like a laundry line. In the same way that we sometimes see laundry hanging out in people's front or backyards, I decided to clip my different moments of vulnerability along this line. These were in the form of illustrations and typography done on postcards or strips of paper. They contained moments, experiences and emotions.
Tools used: Adobe InDesign / Adobe Photoshop / Adobe Lightroom / iPhone for photography
Conceptualisation
The conceptualisation stages and the creation of the postcards/strips which would later be hung on the line in the backyard. The idea of using the lighter came to me in a flash of a moment when I realised its significance as a metaphor for burning/getting rid of the old and a symbol for strength/rising up.
The following are all the photos that were taken for the photo-series which would later be curated and compiled into a photo-book. There were more than a hundred photos which were taken. (The photos shown below are post-editing i.e slight adjustments to brightness and colour grading in order to give them a consistent look).
Layout & design
After this, the next step was curating and compiling these photos into the form of a photo-book which would bring out the entire concept. The photo-book had to, in some sense, capture the essence of fragility and what it meant to me.
Thank you. Hope you enjoyed this project!
